“I Just Want to Keep Kickin’ Ass”
Q&A With Post Malone.
9/28/2017 by Carl Lamarre
When Post Malone first entered the rap game, he was considered an anomaly. His eclectic taste in
music and affinity for Bob Dylan and Green Day made him stick out like a sore thumb. In addition, he
didn’t sport any gaudy jewelry, had wild long hair that ran down his shoulders, and of course, was a
white rapper. For many hip-hop aficionados, that combo would be enough to stifle one’s career. While
hip-hop isn’t as divisive as it once was, Malone knew he needed to show and prove. In 2015, he sculpted
an inescapable record dubbed “White Iverson.” The track, which pays homage to NBA legend Allen Iver-
son, crescendoed into the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 14, and the track’s muse even
praised Malone for his catchy earworm. Fast track to his next single, “Congratulations” (featuring Quavo)
-- which broke the Hot 100’s top 10 in July, currently in its 39th week on the chart -- and Malone quickly
etched himself a lane as a bonafide hitmaker. Post Malone Is One of the Biggest Hit-Makers in Hip-Hop
Right Now Aside from the singles, Post Malone’s debut album, Stoney, cemented his placement in
hip-hop and earned platinum status last April, a feat which has proven to be elusive for many artists in
music. With one platinum album and a slew of hits in tow, Malone ventured back into the studio to me-
ticulously craft album number two. The result? His slow-burning single, “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage.
Further proving his hitmaker status, Post Malone’s latest release debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100 (falling
second to Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,”), amassing 80,000 downloads on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart
and making it the top digital record during its opening week. Moreover, “Rockstar” shattered Apple Mu-
sic’s single week streaming record with over 25 million streams. . Billboard caught up with Post Malone
to talk “Rockstar” and its instant success, the creation of his latest record, meeting Mr. Allen Iverson in
the flesh, and his goal of being one of the best artists in the world.
First off, what were you
thinking with that stage dive
last weekend, man? [Laughs]
I guess I wasn’t, huh? You
know, I had a couple of beers
and I’m kind of a big guy. You
know, we redeemed ourselves
the next night, but I don’t really
know what I was thinking. I
guess I was trying to be cool,
but it didn’t really work.
Ironically, your latest single
is called “Rockstar” and that
did work -- what was your
initial reaction when you first
heard that the song debuted
at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot
100?You know, it’s kind of
crazy, it’s kind of mind-blowing.
That’s the highest I’ve ever
been up there. You know, I
wanted No. 1, but I guess
Cardi B is dope too [Laughs].
She’s super sweet and super
dope, but you know, hopefully
we’ll have it -- and we also
broke an Apple streaming
record, which is super dope.
I’m so thankful that people still
like me.
Why are you worried about
people still liking you
considering you’re coming
off a successful album
with Stoney and you’ve
had very strong singles
with “White Iverson” and
“Congratulations?” I guess
as an artist, it’s never really
enough. You always wanna
strive to get bigger and better
and push the limits of what
you can actually do. I guess I
just want to keep on growing
and one day be the biggest
artist in the world, and just do
my best to put out the best
music that I can. The Apple
streaming record actually
really surprised me, so I’m
hoping for the next one, I can
beat my own record. I just
want to keep kicking ass, man.
There’s a lot of pressure to
make the best music and I just
want to make music that I can
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